Make no mistake: Oklahoma City wasn't as frightening to Western Conference rivals after it traded James Harden to Houston on Saturday as it was before.

When Stephen Jackson or Manu Ginobili see Kevin Martin in Harden's role off the Thunder bench at the AT&T Center on Thursday night, won't they immediately salivate at the prospect of taking him to the basket?

Spurs guard Tony Parker's bemused astonishment that business seemed more important to the Thunder than keeping their good thing going made his opinion clear. He was happy to know a potential playoff matchup with the Thunder won't include the nightmare of defending Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Harden during crunch time.

Reportedly, Harden was devastated when told of the trade. But the smile on his face at the news conference introducing him to Houston reporters was broad and sincere. It is clear he loves his role on the Rockets. Jeremy Lin is a phenomenon, but Harden is The Man.

Houstonians actually are thinking the playoffs could be possible for the first time since Yao Ming's foot problems ended a career that had so much promise.

For the Thunder, the deal was more about the future and the bottom line and less about the team's chances of returning to the NBA Finals next June.

This is what their fans have a hard time with, but moving forward with four players earning a combined $60 million was too limiting for general manager Sam Presti. Without the trade, Thunder would have paid so much luxury tax, they would have lost mid-level salary cap exceptions and the ability to make sign-and-trade deals. Presti chose future flexibility instead.

That's smart management, though it's harder to comprehend how the line could be drawn over the roughly $1.5 million per season in the four-year deal Harden wanted.

Presti gets paid to put a competitive team on the floor while peering into the future. Those three draft picks Oklahoma City received — two firsts and a second — are nice pieces for the future. But where one pick is concerned, that future is strictly delineated.

One first-round pick the Thunder received came from the Raptors through the Rockets, who originally received it in the trade that sent Kyle Lowry to Toronto.

The Toronto selection won't be conveyed to the Thunder next year if it is a top-4 pick or if the Raptors make the playoffs. It is top-3 protected the next two seasons, then top-2 protected another two years. It won't be conveyed if the Raptors are in the playoffs any of those seasons.

In other words, if the Raptors make the playoffs the next five seasons, it is guaranteed to be a lottery pick when it finally is conveyed. Then it wouldn't even matter if Toronto were to win the lottery six years hence. Oklahoma City would still get the pick.

It's asking a lot of Thunder fans to be excited about losing one of their most popular players for the suggestion they might have the No. 1 overall pick if they're just willing to wait six years.

Recent Raptors history suggests the pick will be mid-lottery in June. If so, it will be part of a draft many player personnel experts believe will be short on impact players.

If the Thunder don't return to the Finals, draft night won't be very happy in Oklahoma City under any circumstances.